If you look up the word feisty in the dictionary there probably won't actually be a picture of Tommy Gainey, but if Webster wanted an image to go with that word, a shot of Gainey would work.
Two-Glove Tommy is the the scrappy, 35-year old golfer who's trend, in 2011 on the PGA Tour, is currently on the upswing.
He started the trend early this year with a tie for 19th, but soon improved and then kept improving on that.
He finished the Waste Management Phoenix Open tied for 8th after shooting a 63 there on Thursday, then he tied for 5th at the Honda, and now has two consecutive 3rds at the Heritage and Zurich events.
Following this curve might lead you to believe, as it does me, that sometime soon this two-gloved Tommy gun will win one.
It may even be a very important win, let's say at the upcoming Players Championship or the US Open.
Mr. Gainey attended Central Carolina Technical College after high school, worked on an assembly line in South Carolina and then decided to give professional golf a shot.
He lists his brother as his only instructor, and a good one the guy must be because Tommy is hitting it well enough to be ranked 20th in driving distance, and playing well enough to be ranked 30th on the money list.
What I like about him apart from his upward ticking momentum are a couple of things.
He has the tough mentality of someone who comes from the ground up like Angel Cabrera.
He has a swing which is homemade but powerful.
More importantly the home grown swing is the same every time. He's not trying to do too much with it, just repeat it even though its unorthodox, time after time like Jim Furyk.
CBS announcer Peter Kostis said Sunday. "This guy knows how to play golf. He has a baseball swing incorporated into a golf swing. He's a very good 'feel' player."
Plus he seems hungry, scrappy, eager to see if he can put his name up there real high somewhere.
Certainly, the trend is in the right direction now for a victory soon. And like I said, it would be nice to see this fighter win a big one.
